Oh the joys of planning....

It seems that no matter how hard you work to be totally organized, keep people in the loop, etc., etc. things still go haywire. Like my mission trip. I was feeling pretty good about it. Had the week picked out. The location picked out. Going with a company that I used several times now and liked. And what happens? They call me to say that the site I had reserved was no longer being offered! I had to chose a new site! A new site??? Really? There was a reason I chose what I choose and now I have to rethink this all over again? The representative who was talking to me wanted me to choose right after she told me. She had the list of mission trips all pulled up and ready to go. Wait what? I need to choose right now? While I am still processing all of this??? I had to politely tell her that after talking with my boss and few other people I would let her know. the good news is that I have picked a new site and most people are still happy. But hmmm...what will be next?

Little did they know...

When they hired me little did they know that not only am I accident prone but I seem to bring that out in other people. Usually I have pretty good humor about it all but the other day 3 people, count them 3 people got hurt, essentially at the same time. And none of them were in the same place when they were getting hurt at the same time! It can be a little frustrating at times but I have to keep reminding myself that it is not my fault. But just so you all can get a full grasp of my accident proneness that I seem to bring to the table, here is a list of things that my youth and I have either broken or the injuries we have caused in a year and a half:

3 holes in the walls

Gouges in the drywall

2 broken lights

1 broken paper towel holder

1 broken chair

1 door frame that came off

1 dog bite

1 broken finger

2 black and blue toes

1 sprained foot

1 sprained ankle

1 concussion

And I think that completes my list but you never know. With a list like that I may have missed a thing or two.

Fundraisers anyone?

This year for the HS mission trip we are going to Las Vegas. Yes you read that correctly we are going to Las Vegas. Before you get your nickers in a bunch we are not doing the whole strip thing and there is a need for help there too. In order to make this trip we will need to raise about $4,500. How do you raise that much money you ask? Well you fundraise... and fundraise, and fundraise, and fundraise. And then when you are done with that you fundraise some more. I have decided the hardest part of all of these fundraisers is the volunteers you work with. They are lovely people and it is amazing that they are so giving of their time. It is trying to coordinate all them without hurting anyone's feelings, letting all of their ideas be heard (and hopefully you can put that idea into action), and meanwhile still pulling off a successful fundraiser. Last year it was bingo, this year a valentines dinner with live music, and childcare provided. Holey moley this is going to be a wild ride.

Advent is over and Christmas is here

The presents have all been opened, we enjoyed our stockings, and Christmas dinner was delicious. Now we can all relax right? Nothing more to do right? Nothing except enjoying in the wondrous thing of Jesus's birth! For whatever reason we seem to lose that in all of this. We get so focused on other things that after all the gifts have been opened, stockings delighted in, we seem to sit back and sigh as if it is all over now. Isn't this really the time we should be celebrating? Now that Jesus has been born? (albeit many years ago but we are celebrating it now anyway) I think it is party time myself! Now is the time to bring out the egg nog and light up the lights. For without our saviors birth and his ultimate sacrifice (that is a story for another time) he gave us we would not have the joy we have today.

Blessings

Just when you are not sure of things God always seems to provide you with many blessings. Sometimes it comes in ways that are not what you would expect either. Before I took my current job as a youth director I had some serious debate on if I could do this. Would I be good at it? Would I be able to do all the stuff I had not been doing as a volunteer? Is this really where I was being called? Then one night on a mission trip a really good friend of mine stayed up chatting with me. She told me that God was not asking me to jump off a cliff but to step off a curb. I took those words to heart and stepped off the curb. It was after thinking on those words that I decided that I would become the next youth leader at my church if they chose to hire me. Fortunately they did.

When you are in the throws of your job there are times that you question what you are doing. Am I making a difference in their lives? Am I reaching anyone? Are those looks of boredom or are they just tired? Are they whining out of love? That and so much more will go rambling through my head. And sometimes it feels like no matter how hard you pray you still feel like you are walking alone. That is when God smacks ya with the blessings that have been right under your nose the whole time. Sometimes I think he has to smack ya in order to get your attention. He has to kind make you realize that yes indeed he has been walking with you the whole time. That you should always keep your faith. And that those looks of boredom really are looks of boredom but that they still love you. Youth can be way more forgiving than we sometimes give them credit for. Good golly I have a great job and to top it off I have a great God who loves and cares for us all!

Shocking

A funny thing about me is I tend to be full of static electricity. And it especially seems worse in the winter time. So every day I sit in my office unknowingly building up static charge. Then when I least expect it I will touch something metal and wowzer! I get quite a shock. It is especially bad when I turn off my lights. I have seen a blue spark fly when I do that. If anyone out there knows of a way to stop this from happening I would be eternally grateful. But until then I hope that I do not shock myself to hard.

Games, games, and more games....

Some days I feel like I have the coolest job in the world. Where else can you play with the most random things and have everyone leave with a smile. Today I gave teams of youth random objects and told them they had to create a game for everyone. One group I gave plastic hockey sticks, a couple of nerf footballs, and they could use any folding chairs in the gym. When all was said and done they had chairs stacked two high, hockey sticks stretched across them to make hurdles, and we played a very interesting version of hockey. You have not lived until you try to make a nerf football work like a hockey puck. The youth played that game for quite a while. I should let them make up their own games every week. One less thing for me to plan ; )